Fighting The French: A New Concept

"Nowadays the French Defence is one of the most popular opening schemes in response to 1.e4. I should like to suggest a new concept of combating it. White plays 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 and then he deploys his pieces according to the scheme Ngf3, Bd3, c3, 0-0, against almost anything that Black may play (with only minimal exceptions), and this will usually lead to exchanges in the centre and the appearance of an isolated queen's pawn for White..." Denis Yevseev.

An in-depth analysis of this new approach for White against the French Defence after 1.e4,e6; 2.d4,d5; 3.Nd2. Part one examines the Rubinstein Variation 3..dxe4, part two covers all other 3rd moves for Black, including 3..c5; and 3..Nf6; whilst part 3 is an extensive examination of the IQP positions which arise as a consequence of Yevseev's new repertoire.

In general White does not play his e-pawn to e5 in this system. Instead he maintains it on e4 and defends the d-pawn with c2-c3. After exchanges in the centre he is left with more space and chances for attacking play, but also with an isolated d-pawn - a static weakness.

Denis Yevseev is a grandmaster. He is the winner of many international tournaments as Taraus open (Tampere) 2002, the Petrov Memorial (St. Petersburg) 2002 and the Vashilishin Memorial (Lvov) 2009.